It Really Was
by amateur-hourd
Summary: She was a small person who wore bright colors and had large eyes. He liked her. Donald x Lilly with a bit of JessexBeca.


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Pitch Perfect, but if I could, I'd call dibbs on Jesse. **

**This is my first Lilly/Donald fanfic, I wrote it because of a request on the 'ask pitch perfect tumblr', everyone should go check that out, it's awesome! I had to watch the movie very carefully and rewind about a dozen times to see where the Lilly and Donald moments could fit in, and I hope I did a good job. Let me know, okay? :)**

**Move-In Day**

He first bumped into her on move-in day.

He was beat-boxing, on his way to meet up with the rest of the Trebles at the Activities Fair when he almost ran over a small person with large, unblinking eyes.

She was wearing a rainbow colored headband with a striped shirt, leggings, and a sweatshirt tied around her waist. And the sweatshirt had….owls….on them? Who was he to judge, really? Sometimes, his clothes didn't even match. And she liked bright colors. He could respect that.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," he apologized, shooting her a charming grin. Because he was always charming, that's why.

He expected some blushing, maybe even some swooning 'cause he has that effect on women (it's an Indian thing), but all she did was stare at him. She looked down and mumbled something so quiet he started to lean in, in order to hear her better. And then she quickly picked up the chest she had dropped (a chest...?) and went around him so fast she became a blur. All he heard were her feet running up some stairs and when he turned around she was gone.

He probably stood there, like an idiot, for a full minute trying to make sense of what had just happened.

When he finally decided to just keep on walking, he couldn't stop wondering about the chest and if what was in it was as weird as the girl carrying it.

**Auditions**

Auditions were always a bore to him because all he wanted to do was get to the part where the Initiation Party commenced so that they could all get happy drunk. And Bumper was usually the one who decided who got in and who didn't, so it wasn't much of a deal if he didn't pay attention. After the initial shock the first one gave him for not being a dude, he decided to just let Bumper handle it 'cause these things always got a little freaky.

And then he saw her. It was weird. She hadn't seemed like the a-capella type. He unconsciously leaned forward when she opened her mouth because he was really curious about what she sounded like.

And then….nothing. He heard nothing. Why did he hear nothing?

Blondie Bella asked her to repeat herself but the second time wasn't any better than the last. Her singing was louder but he still had to strain his ears to hear it. Mostly, he just stared dumbfounded.

She was….weird. She was probably just shy, though. And after she left the stage he got distracted by some of the other chicks, like Kori and Stacie. But before the Trebles left the auditorium, curiosity got the best of him and he purposefully walked through the aisle behind the Bella's table to see if he could catch a glimpse of her audition sheet.

Her name was Lilly. He liked it.

**Initiation Night**

The first hour of Initiation Night is usually a bummer. He makes it a point to stand there and chat with Bumper because let's face it; the dude's not exactly a ladies' man. And while Bumper had his many defects, he was still his friend and the only one from the Trebles that he had known since freshman year. So they both held some sort of respect for each other. Bumper never acted like a douche to him directly and Donald knew how to keep him in line with the other Trebles (who were a bit afraid of him). It worked for them. So he doesn't hold it against him when Bumper pushes him away to talk to Fat Amy (he thinks that's what she liked to called) 'cause he probably thinks he's gonna get some. Donald doesn't bother to correct him.

Pretty soon he's dancing with Kori, one of the new Bella chicks, and forgets to look for the weird Asian chick with big eyes and bright colors.

**Normal Day**

The next time he sees her, she's walking out of the biology building combing her hair. This time, she's wearing a loose skirt that goes past her knees, a shirt with colorful confetti on it and the same sweatshirt wrapped around her waist. Her hair's in two long braids and he thinks it suits her.

"Hey!" But she just keeps on walking. "Hey! Lilly!"

Donald sees her freeze and slowly turn around to stare at him. He smiles and goes to stand in front of her, "Remember me? I'm Donald," he almost puts his fist out to bump hers but then realizes that that would probably look stupid so he just sticks his hand out.

And uncomfortable silence passes between them when she doesn't do anything but stare at it and then back at him. So he slowly retracts his hand to run it through his hair when he sees the Bella scarf tied to her bag and decides to say something, "So, you're a Bella now. That's cool."

Her eyes are unblinking when she looks up at him and she mumbles something he doesn't hear, but he does see the small smile on her lips. So he guesses that she might have said something along the lines of "thank-you". He doesn't have time to ask her anything else though 'cause like the first time, she scurries off and becomes a blur. It was….kind of adorable.

**Lunch**

Donald was ordering a burger in the diner near campus when he saw Jesse. He was waiting for his order at the counter, murmuring something about chess matches and abdominals.

"Should I even ask?" He said when he had placed his order and went to go stand at the counter next to the new Treble, "Because I never pegged you for a chess player kind of guy."

Jesse turned to look at him confused, "Chess? Oh….no, I meant chest. Chest match."

Donald only raised an eyebrow.

Jesse sighed, "Never mind. What's up man, what are you doing here?"

"I got hungry," Donald shrugged, "What are _you_ doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working? I thought your boss was an asshole."

"He is an asshole. I'm getting his lunch."

Donald winced, "That sucks. You're like his errand boy."

"Yeah, thanks," Jesse said, "He did it on purpose, too. I was actually making Beca laugh. Laugh, Donald! Or you know, she was smiling….sarcastically. But it was something. Stupid Luke."

"Dude, don't stress, I doubt they're having sex right now….well probably," Donald laughed when Jesse paled. He really liked to bother him with his whole 'Beca doesn't like me but I'm gonna make her like me' situation. He was sure it would get better for the kid. He really liked Jesse; they worked well together and Bumper agreed because he had let them take over most of the performances anyway. So, the alternative chick might not like him now, but it would only be a matter of time. Jesse was the kind of dude that you just can't not like (well, except for maybe Luke).

He didn't know what it was about the Bellas, but they seemed infinitely more interesting this year. Most of them were freshmen so it was cool to see new faces in the competition. Well, honestly, he only really focused on one face. And it had big eyes and adorable expressions.

Donald shook his head and made to leave, "I gotta go but I'll see you at practice later. Don't let the douche get to you, kid."

**Riff-Off**

He's always loved the Riff-Offs just because he could always show off just how good he is. And his competitiveness really comes out to play. He hates losing. That was always something he and Bumper had in common.

And he also hates the BU Harmonics; there was something about them that made them insufferably peppy. And then the Bellas start singing 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' while Bumper and him try to come up with a song. Luckily, one of the High Notes interrupts them before they could finish it and win.

The next category is sex and he's got this. He's given the 'go ahead' by Bumper and jogs up to the front but he's beaten by Cynthia Rose. By the time she and Stacie sing "sticks and stones", he already knows when to jump in and lets Jesse know to back him up.

Now they're singing and he's waving 'see ya' to Stacie, because as hot as she is, it's not enough of a distraction to beat them.

Seems like he spoke too soon, because then she cuts him off with 'I'll Make Love to You' and he's got nothing.

And then Jesse, his man, starts singing 'Feels like the First Time' and he and the Trebles quickly strategize on how to back up the notes. Donald soon realizes that he's singing to that Beca chick and helps him out by throwing in some more beat boxing. Shockingly, Beca runs up to him and cuts him off by rapping 'No Diggity' by Blackstreet. And honestly, he'd have never thought that one of the _Bellas _even knew the song existed so he's got to give her props. His gaze then wonders off to the rest of them in the background looking clueless and yeah, he's not impressed.

When Jesse tells Beca to 'keep going' though, his eyes flit unwillingly to Lilly's direction to see if she knows the song. She's smiling instead of looking lost like the rest of them so there's hope for her yet. Then Fat Amy starts singing and the Bellas are quick to make up for lost time. At some point through the song, Lilly starts shooting at him, he thinks. She's shooting a….crossbow? Or something. Whatever she's pretending to shoot, it makes him give an unwilling smile, even though the Trebles are just standing there with blank looks on their faces and they know they're going to lose.

He thinks it's a surprise to everyone when the Trebles end up winning the Riff-Off just because Beca sang 'it's' instead of 'it'. But he's not complaining; he even hugs Justin. Like he said, he hates losing. He did notice Lilly's frown though, and could only think, 'sorry kid'. And then the Trebles go off to celebrate.

**Regionals**

The Bellas perform first and he can tell Bumper's getting ready to spout out several insults at once. He ignores him though because his stare is on Lilly. She's waving and scampering down the aisle that leads to the stage. It's funny how she always looks excited and is always smiling when she's about to perform with the Bellas. She likes it, he can tell that much. He just wondered why she couldn't grin that bright around him, not that he cared.

The Bellas really had to step up their game though, he was about to fall asleep before Fat Amy took over. He could tell it was a huge improvisation on her part because Blondie Bella looked like she was about to burst. Didn't matter now, it was their turn, and they would show everyone how it was done.

They won, of course. But the Bellas came in second; which meant that they would be advancing onto the semi-finals with them. Lilly's grin almost made him smile but he was careful to keep his facial expression composed. He always was, so it was hard for anyone to really know what he was thinking since he liked playing it cool. Sometimes, he was jealous of the fact that Jesse so easily showed his emotions on his face for everyone to see. Other times, he was thankful for the fact that he knew how to hide them so well.

One thing he was sure of though, was that the fight with the Tonehangers was the one part of the night he would rather forget.

**Semi-Finals**

He had always been thankful for the Trebles having their own bus. They had bought it during Bumper and Donald's sophomore year and the keys had been officially handed off to him. He kind of felt bad for slowing down so that Bumper could hit Fat Amy with his burrito but then realized that those two had their own language and so it probably wasn't completely unexpected for her.

About half and hour later, Bumper gets a call from Fat Amy, and they hear him yell: "You're what?! Oh, that's rich! Good luck losers!" Then he proceeds to laugh obnoxiously into his phone until Unicycle makes him hang up.

"Who was that?" Kolio asked.

"Dude, the Bellas are stranded. They ran out of gas, which is supposedly my fault," Bumper says with a smirk on his face. "Those Bella bitches are not getting to semi-finals tonight."

Donald soon realizes that his hands have involuntarily tightened their grip on the steering wheel, maybe so that he doesn't get up and punch Bumper in the face. Through the rearview mirror he can see that Jesse has gone considerably stiff too. He hasn't been his usual self since the fight he told him he had with Beca on the night of Regionals (well, it was more one-sided) but by the serious look on his face, it wasn't enough to deter him from wanting to help her.

Donald can tell Jesse's seconds away from telling Bumper off and to be honest he kind of wants to do the same, because those 'Bella bitches' included the small, adorable person he found so intriguing. Instead though, he just puts the bus in reverse and starts driving back to a few miles past the gas station.

He ignores Bumper's remarks of 'what the hell are you doing' and shakes his head at the rest of the Trebles' sighs of relief. It was obvious Bumper was the only that wouldn't have felt guilty for just leaving them stranded.

When they reach the rental bus, Fat Amy is the first to rush out and climb in, choosing the seat next to Bumper and smacking his head. See? They have their own language; they're pretty creepy about it too. From his peripheral vision he sees Jesse go still when Beca enters, his eyes seeking hers but she doesn't even look in his direction. Jesse's back slumps and Donald sighs.

Aubrey's the second to last to get on and she does so reluctantly. She marches up the steps holding her head high and pointedly ignores them. He just chuckles and smiles slightly at Lilly when she enters the bus last. She smiles a small one back and chooses the seat right behind his.

Half an hour passes and he's checking the rearview mirror every once in a while to make sure the Trebles and Bellas don't start going at it like cats and dogs. There's also traffic and he's trying not to outwardly curse as to not scare Lilly.

So he starts beat-boxing to try and take his mind off of the road. There's 9 miles left when to his surprise, Lilly starts beat-boxing and humming a carnival tune.

"You're pretty good," he says impressed.

He doesn't have to strain his ears for her answer because she speaks up for his benefit. When he hears it though, he thinks that maybe she's the one that should scare him. But then the thought 'to each its own' comes to mind and he nods as he says, "That's adorable." Because it really is.

After that, the events that follow are confusing. All the Trebles knew was that the Footnotes were the ones to beat in the semi-finals after hearing the audience's response. He didn't know what had happened with the Bellas' performance but Aubrey was apparently pissed. And her anger was aimed at Beca. He didn't really have time to stop Jesse from stepping in and when Beca started taking her anger out at him, Donald tried to distract the rest of the Trebles as much as possible so as to not make it even more awkward. That ship had long sailed though.

They won, but the bus ride home was one of the most awkward ones he had ever had to endure. Lilly was just as serious as the rest of the Bellas and everyone stayed quiet. Bumper was the only who tried to cut the silence with obnoxious comments about their newly won trophy, but he got the message to shut up when Donald turned on the radio and turned up the volume in order to drown out his voice. Jesse's face is the most serious he's seen so far and so Donald knows to give his friend some much needed space after the blow-out.

When they get back to campus, the Bellas get off immediately, but Lilly stops and turns to him.

"Bye Donald," she says with a small smile and then goes after the other girls. He had heard her loud and clear.

"Bye Lilly," he smiled.

**Back from Spring Break**

Spring Break was uneventful; he hung out with a few of his friends from his hometown and met up with the Trebles for a few rehearsals.

Now though, was when the real fun began: the Finals. They had everything prepared so they were relaxing in the hot tub at the Treble House. Now that he thought about it, was that weird? It doesn't matter; there were more pressing matters to attend to, like how to make sure his perfect hair did not get wet with water from a hot tub that was infested with about 7 other guys and their odor. Never mind, he found his shower cap.

A few minutes after having texted Jesse, Bumper comes in carrying a luggage bag and Donald already knows this dude's about to ditch them for something. When he starts talking about John Meyer and what not, Donald's gaze meets Jesse's, who just came in through the front door, and they both give 'are you serious?' looks and shake their head. It seems funny how they're the only ones not exactly surprised that Bumper would do this to them the week of Finals. Either way, they're screwed. Bumper usually makes himself the star of the performances at the ICCAs and this year had been no exception. So basically, now they would need a whole new set; new song, new choreography, new everything. They're screwed.

Unicycle then states the obvious; Bumper has always been a jerk. All Donald knows is that they need a new Treble and fast.

"What about Benji?" Jesse asks.

"As long as he's not being weird," Unicycle says.

"Got it. No weirdness." And Jesse's out the door.

Benji's always had a great voice. He should have gotten into the Trebles from the beginning but Bumper couldn't get over his dorkiness. Donald didn't really mind the weirdness, weird was good. Especially if weird was accompanied by an adorable small person with big eyes. But….this is about Benji….so forget he said that.

The good thing was that now they didn't have to answer to Bumper. They never really did, but Bumper intimidated the other Trebles so they would just go along with whatever he said. Donald just did it to not have to hear him complain when he didn't get his way.

It didn't matter now, the new set for the ICCAs would be better than their old one ever was.

**Finals**

Their performance had been amazing. The best so far, he thinks.

Unfortunately though, from the moment Lilly started her 'it ain't having about the money' he knew it would also be the Bellas best performance by far. And as it went on, he knew that they wouldn't be winning first place. He tried to keep his face neutral but it was hard when he could plainly see that Lilly was having the time of her life on that stage.

He glanced at Jesse a few times when Beca began singing one of Simple Mind's best because he knew about the Breakfast Club fiasco and that that song meant something to them. And as she kept on belting out the lyrics, the smile on Jesse's face told him that she was quickly forgiven.

It was weird how indirectly involved he was in their relationship. Maybe that meant that he should get one of his own. And he knew who he wanted that with whenever he stared at Lilly.

The applause was the loudest it had ever been when they finished singing and Donald quickly gets up to go congratulate the Bellas and mostly because he wanted to see Lilly, but he's blocked by rest of the Trebles who had the same idea and now wanted to socialize with the chicks that Bumper had always looked down upon with no good reason at all. The next performance was now about to start and he hadn't even had time to get to Lilly. Walking back down the aisle, a quick glance told him Beca and Jesse were still completely unaware of anything around them and the only thing that made them break apart was Amy's yell of: "_Yeah. _You go, Shawshank!"

….Shawshank?

**After Party**

She was harder to find than he thought. He was expecting to see her and the Bellas all huddled in a group but they had all but dispersed around the room. Stacie was flirting with some guys from the other a-ca groups, no surprise there. Aubrey had yet to let go of the winning trophie; yes, they had lost, but he didn't feel as mad as he expected to be at having lost the ICCAs. Chloe was dancing drunkenly with Fat Amy and Benji, weirdly enough. Jesse and Beca had all but disappeared; he shuddered.

He finally saw Lilly; she was trying to teach Jessica the art of beat-boxing.

"Hey Lilly," he grinned coolly. At least, he hoped it looked cool.

"Hi," she smiled back at him. He was a bit surprised at how her voice was at normal speaking level now, but he always knew she had it in her. In fact, he was now unreasonably jealous that he had to share her adorable voice with others.

"Well, I'm beat. You can teach me later, Lils. See ya Donald," Jessica walked off to the dance floor.

Donald waved bye to her but he was more focused on Lilly. She was staring at him and her eyes sort of had the 'keep you in place' effect. He felt like he couldn't move and he was nervous about what he was about to say next.

"You were amazing. Really, your beat-boxing skills were madly impressive. So, I was wondering, maybe sometime, we could beat-box together. And I could take you out?" He was usually better at this, but this was Lilly. She had a tendency to make him nervous.

"But you know, if you don't want to-"

"Okay."

"We could just hang out, like friends, like buddies, like-wait, what?"

"Okay," She grinned at him and then stepped forward to hug him.

Donald had honestly never thought it would feel so right hugging a small person in his arms. But it did. And he was glad. He just had one more question.

"Oh, Lilly? I need to ask you something. Remember that chest you dropped when I first bumped into you? What was in it?" He would probably regret asking but he was really curious.

"My porcelain china doll head collection."

"….Well, that's adorable." Because it really was.

**There it is! I had to include some Beca and Jesse moments, I just couldn't resist. Thank you to everyone who reviewed my story, "Gentleman"! I really didn't expect such great comments; they mean a whole lot, so thank you!**


End file.
